Panelboard breaker compartment with disconnect features
A circuit breaker may be plugged into a breaker compartment in a panelboard without making a connection to a power bus of the panel board. A tool may be inserted into the breaker compartment to operate movable contacts that connect, or disconnect, the circuit breaker from the power bus without de-energizing the power line network. Inserting the tool into the breaker compartment first causes a trip actuator to trip the circuit breaker.
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The invention disclosed relates to electrical power distribution enclosures.
BACKGROUNDWhen inserting, removing or working on a circuit breaker in a panelboard, an operator typically turns off the power to the panelboard beforehand. Otherwise, the operator may be exposed to serious electrical hazard, such as an energized conductor or an arc flash. However, in applications where multiple loads are connected to the panelboard, such as a bank of electric motors, an interruption of power to the other loads is a major inconvenience.
SUMMARYThe invention disclosed is a breaker compartment that plugs into the power bus of an electrical power distribution enclosure, such as a panelboard. The breaker compartment includes a housing that has an access side through which to receive a circuit breaker and a bus connector on the outside of the housing. The breaker compartment also includes a tool interface for receiving an operational tool, a trip actuator, a power connector actuator and a guide slot. The trip actuator is configured to trip the circuit breaker when an operational tool is received in the tool interface. The power connection actuator is configured to be operated by the operational tool via the tool interface, to electrically connect the circuit breaker, via the bus connector, to the power bus or to electrically disconnect the circuit breaker, via the bus connector, from the power bus. The guide slot is configured to prevent the power connection actuator from electrically connecting the circuit breaker to the power bus, until the circuit breaker is tripped by the trip actuator.
Accordingly, a circuit breaker may be mounted inside to the breaker compartment without making a connection to the power bus. The operator may then insert an operational tool into the breaker compartment via the tool interface and safely connect or disconnect the circuit breaker from the power bus without de-energizing the power bus. For example, the action of inserting the tool into the tool interface of the breaker compartment causes the trip actuator to trip the circuit breaker, before the guide slot permits the tool to be moved by the operator to connect the circuit breaker to the power bus. After the circuit breaker has been tripped, the guide slot permits the operator to move the tool via the tool interface and to operate the power connection actuator in order to electrically connect the circuit breaker to the power bus. The trip actuator is spring-loaded so that when the operator removes the tool from the breaker compartment, the trip actuator resumes its original position where it can trip the circuit breaker the next time the tool is inserted into the tool interface. This prevents a later disconnection of the circuit breaker from the power bus, without first tripping the circuit breaker. The guide slot provides a failsafe function by preventing the circuit breaker from resetting its contacts to the “on” position unless the circuit breaker is fully connected to or fully disconnected from the power bus, whether or not the tool remains inserted.
The breaker compartment 2 is divided into a lower section 54 that is separated by a partition 52 (shown in
Referencing
In operation, the slideable carrier 16 is driven forward by the power connection actuator 14, moving the slideable connectors 17 along the conducting rods 5 toward the conductor stabs 3 of the circuit breaker 4, to connect the slideable connectors 17 to the respective conductor stabs 3 of the circuit breaker 4, thereby creating electrical connections between the conducting rods 5 and the stabs 3.
A light source 55, such as an LED device, located within the housing, is aligned with the observation window 65, located, for example, in the door 6 of the housing (
In another example embodiment, the light path from the light source 55 to the observation window 65 may be guided within the housing by an optical fiber or light pipe. The light source 55 is further aligned with the carrier 16 when the slideable connectors 17 are connected to the line side conductor stabs 3 of the circuit breaker 4. The light path from the light source 55 to the observation window 65 is blocked by the carrier 16 when the slideable connectors 17 are connected to the stabs. The light path from the light source 55 to the observation window 65 is unblocked by the carrier 16 when the slideable connectors 17 are withdrawn from the stabs, thereby enabling the light source 55 to illuminate the observation window 65 to provide a visual confirmation when the circuit breaker 4 is disconnected from the power bus.
The figure further shows the door 6 of the breaker compartment 2 in its open position and the circuit breaker 4 positioned outside of the breaker compartment. The door to the compartment may be open whenever an electrician or other user is installing, uninstalling, or in any way performing work on the circuit breaker. The figure shows an interlock lever 8,8A that blocks transverse motion of the power connection actuator 14 while the door 6 is open. The interlock lever 8,8A unblocks the power connection actuator 14 when the door 6 is closed (
The guide slot 40 provides a failsafe function by preventing the circuit breaker from resetting its contacts to the “on” position unless the circuit breaker is fully connected to or fully disconnected from the power bus, whether or not the operational tool 10 remains inserted. When the operational tool 10 is retracted, the pin 20 slides to an end of the guide slot 40, holding the pin 20 in either the “on” position with the circuit breaker connected or the “off” position with the circuit breaker disconnected from the power bus. The guide slot 40 guarantees that the connection and disconnection operations can only follow a specified path and that specific actions cannot be performed out of order.
When the operational tool 10 is inserted into the tool receiver 12 (corresponding to
Then, when the operational tool 10 transversely moves the tool receiver 12 to connect the slideable connectors 17 to the stabs 3 (corresponding to
If the tool 10 were to be withdrawn from the tool receiver 12 at an intermediate slot position 40C, before achieving the completed connection shown in
After the operational tool 10 has successfully moved the tool receiver 12 to connect the slideable connectors 17 to the stabs 3 (corresponding to
When the operational tool 10 is later reinserted through the tool access slot 36 in the front cover 13, to disconnect the conductor stabs 3 of the circuit breaker 4, it once again engages the tool receiver 12. The spring-loaded pin 20 will be guided from slot position 40E to slot position 40D to cause the tripping lever 18 to actuate the tripping button 7 to trip the circuit breaker 4. In this manner, if the circuit breaker 4 had been previously in the conducting state, it will be placed into the tripped, non-conducting state before the slideable connectors 17 can be disconnected from the conductor stabs 3 of the circuit breaker 4. In this manner, the guide slot 40 provides a failsafe function of to keep the tripping lever 18 depressed and hence prevent any reset of the circuit breaker 4, whether or not the tool 10 is in the tool receiver 12, so long as the circuit breaker is not in the connected or the disconnected state.
Although specific example embodiments of the invention have been disclosed, it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that changes may be made to the specific example embodiments without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A breaker compartment for housing a circuit breaker in an electrical power distribution enclosure, comprising:
- a housing to electrically connect to a power bus of an electrical power distribution enclosure, the housing having an access side through which to receive a circuit breaker;
- a tool interface in the housing to receive an operational tool;
- a trip actuator coupled to the tool interface, to trip the circuit breaker when the operational tool is received in the tool interface;
- a power connection actuator coupled to the tool interface, to be operated by the operational tool via the tool interface, to electrically connect the circuit breaker to the power bus or to electrically disconnect the circuit breaker from the power bus; and
- a guide slot coupled to the trip actuator and the power connection actuator, to provide failsafe prevention of the circuit breaker from resetting its contacts to the “on” position unless the circuit breaker is fully connected to or fully disconnected from the power bus, whether or not the operational tool remains inserted in the tool interface.
2. The breaker compartment for housing a circuit breaker in an electrical power distribution enclosure of claim 1, further comprising:
- the guide slot being further configured to cause the circuit breaker to be tripped by the trip actuator before the circuit breaker is connected to or disconnected from the power bus.
3. A breaker compartment for housing a circuit breaker in an electrical power distribution enclosure, comprising:
- a housing to fit in an electrical power distribution enclosure, the housing having an access side to enable insertion and removal of a circuit breaker, the housing including a bus connector to electrically connect to a power bus in the electrical power distribution enclosure, the housing including a conducting rod therein electrically connected via the bus connector to the power bus;
- a dielectric carrier mounted on the conducting rod, the dielectric carrier supporting a slideable electrical connector to slide on the conducting rod when the dielectric carrier is driven by a power connection actuator to electrically connect or disconnect the slideable connector from a conductor stab of a circuit breaker housed in the housing, thereby electrically connecting or disconnecting the conductor stab from the power bus when the power connection actuator is actuated by an operational tool;
- a tool receiver to receive the operational tool through an aperture in the housing, the tool receiver being coupled by a linkage to a tripping lever to trip the circuit breaker when the operational tool is initially received by the tool receiver; and
- a guide slot coupled to the tool receiver and the power connection actuator, to provide failsafe prevention of the circuit breaker from resetting its contacts to the “on” position unless the circuit breaker is fully connected to or fully disconnected from the power bus, whether or not the operational tool remains inserted in the tool interface.
4. The breaker compartment for housing a circuit breaker in an electrical power distribution enclosure of claim 3, further comprising:
- the guide slot being further configured to cause the circuit breaker to be tripped by the tool receiver before the circuit breaker is connected to or disconnected from the power bus.
5. The breaker compartment of claim 3, further comprising:
- the housing including a shutter composed of an insulating dielectric material, pivotally mounted in the housing, to close over the slideable electrical connector when the slideable electrical connector is disconnected from the conductor stab of the circuit breaker, to shield an operator from the conducting rod, the shutter being configured to open to allow passage of the slideable electrical connector to connect to the conductor stab of the circuit breaker.
6. The breaker compartment of claim 3, further comprising:
- the housing including a door hinged on the housing and covering the access side of the housing; and
- an interlock lever to block actuation of the power connection actuator while the door is open over the access side, the interlock lever being positioned to be moved by the door when the door is closed, to allow actuation of the power connection actuator.
7. The breaker compartment of claim 3, further comprising:
- the housing including a door hinged on the housing and covering the access side of the housing in a closed position; and
- a door lock to lock the door over the access side, when the power connection actuator is actuated.
8. The breaker compartment of claim 3, further comprising:
- the housing including three conducting rods electrically connected via the bus connector to three respective phases of the power bus; and
- the carrier supporting three slideable connectors to respectively slide on the three conducting rods when the three slideable connectors are driven by the power connection actuator to electrically connect or disconnect the three slideable connectors from three respective conductor stabs of the circuit breaker housed in the housing, thereby electrically connecting or disconnecting the three respective conductor stab from the three respective phases of the power bus when the power connection actuator is actuated by the operational tool.
9. The breaker compartment of claim 8, further comprising:
- the housing including three shutters composed of an insulating dielectric material, pivotally mounted in the housing, to respectively close over the three slideable electrical connectors when the slideable electrical connectors are disconnected from the three respective conductor stabs of the circuit breaker, to shield an operator from the conducting rods, the three shutters being configured to open to allow passage of the three slideable electrical connectors to connect to the three respective conductor stabs of the circuit breaker.
10. The breaker compartment of claim 3, further comprising:
- a light source in the housing, the light source optically aligned with an observation window in the housing to illuminate the window, to indicate whether the slideable connector has been disconnected from the conductor stab of the circuit breaker.
11. The breaker compartment of claim 3, further comprising:
- a plug-on base that fits within the housing of the breaker compartment, the plug-on base being a platform to hold the circuit breaker and to support the power connection actuator in the breaker compartment housing.
12. A breaker compartment for housing a circuit breaker in an electrical power distribution enclosure, comprising:
- a housing to electrically connect to a power bus of an electrical power distribution enclosure, the housing having an access side through which to receive a circuit breaker;
- a tool interface in the housing to receive an operational tool;
- a trip actuator coupled to the tool interface, to trip the circuit breaker when the operational tool is received in the tool interface; and
- a power connection actuator coupled to the tool interface, to be operated by the operational tool via the tool interface, to electrically connect the circuit breaker to the power bus or to electrically disconnect the circuit breaker from the power bus.
13. The breaker compartment for housing a circuit breaker in an electrical power distribution enclosure of claim 12, further comprising:
- a guide slot coupled to the trip actuator and the power connection actuator, to provide failsafe prevention of the circuit breaker from resetting its contacts to the “on” position unless the circuit breaker is fully connected to or fully disconnected from the power bus, whether or not the operational tool remains inserted in the tool interface.
14. The breaker compartment for housing a circuit breaker in an electrical power distribution enclosure of claim 13, further comprising:
- the guide slot being further configured to cause the circuit breaker to be tripped by the trip actuator before the circuit breaker is connected to or disconnected from the power bus.
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Type: Grant
Filed: Mar 31, 2014
Date of Patent: Jan 23, 2018
Patent Publication Number: 20170110856
Assignee: SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC USA, INC. (Andover, MA)
Inventors: Steven W. Dozier (Murfreesboro, TN), Jacob E. Walgenbach (La Vergne, TN)
Primary Examiner: Zachary M Pape
Assistant Examiner: Amir Jalali
Application Number: 15/129,441
International Classification: H02B 1/052 (20060101); H01H 71/02 (20060101); H02B 1/30 (20060101);